D&D 5E My Ideal Release Schedule

[Zardnaar]

Oh the irony I will admit I was one of those who left feedback requesting less material from WoTC. An by less material I meant I did not want a book a month splat o rama full of mechanics bloat that was endemic to 3E and 4E.

As per usual WoTC over reacts IMHO much like how the design of 4E was an over reaction to the problems 3.5 had and how 3.5 was probably an overreaction to 3.0 or the GSL was an overreaction to the OGL.

That kind of came back to bite me in the ass. I probably should have made the difference clear between a slower release schedule than bupkiss vs bloat.
Now when a new edition comes out I more or less expect some class books to appear in reasonably short order (The Complete XYZ, Sword and Fist, the Complete Arcane, Divine Power type stuff).

Ideally to me this would be around 4 books a’la the 1st 4 Complete, Warrior, Divine, Adventurer, Arcane. I am fine with those taking about a year or two. I do not want the Complete Mage/Psion/Divine Power 2 type books any time soon nor do I want or require new classes but some well done ones would be nice to have.

I do like an additional class book to come out such as the PHB2 after 2-3 years with new classes in it. The only new class I really want to see is Psionics as they have usually been close to a new edition launch. So after 2-3 years around 6 plat books is my ideal amount in terms of PC crunch. I do not need one for every class a’la 2E Complete Fighter, Wizard etc.
I also more or less expect Dragon and Dungeon Magazines although that is a pipe dream these days. Still sad about their demise I 2007, I have them through to 2011 via DDI but it is not the same and they sucked anyway by comparison. Dungeon was always good for a 1-2 session adventure.

Now for the thing I really want. Adventures. I was part of the D&D exodus from 2008 through to 2013 or so when I started buying D&D PDFs again. In that 5 year interval I discovered things like $10 PDFs via Paizo and RPGnow.com. PDFs of $32 page adventures were getting down to $2 for a professional one or $0 for a freebie. During that time of exile the OSR revival provided plenty of adventures to use along with being compatible enough with the AD&D/BECMI legacy adventures.

If one liked Pathfinder and 3.5 Dungeon went monthly during 3Es run and Paizo produced their excellent adventure paths. One kind of got spoilt by all of the options at a time where WoTC ability to make a great adventure nosedived. Due to the OGL one can and did look elsewhere. Ironically history is repeating itself after wasting money on HoTDQ I have bought 2 OGL 5E adventures on PDF, one was dirt cheap at $1 the other was $20 and it contained 12 adventures.

Now if I had the option and if those options were quality ones I would have bought those adventures via WoTC. In recent years several adventures I would regard as modern classics.

Assault on Black Tooth Ridge (Castles &Crusades)

Rise of the Runelords (3.5/Pathfinder)

Lost Mines of Phandelver (5E)

That is what I mean by quality adventures not trash like HotDQ. RoT is better and I have not read enough of it to make a call one way or the other. I keep meaning to get around to it. I’m not sure how many adventures is too much but Paizo seems to be able to do it monthly and their worst ones are more average than out right bad. To be fair TSR made some stinkers as well and I may be willing to sell my copy of the Forest Oracle although I paid the right amount for it ($0).

So I suppose my ideal release schedule would look something like this.

1-3 splat books a year leaning toward 2-3 early on a 1/year later in the edition cycle after 5 or 6 have some out. That is splat books focused on PCs.

1 Monster manual every 2-3 years.

1 Campaign setting every 1-2 years

Adventures (monthly, AP or Dungeon).

Dragon would be nice as well even bi monthly a’la the old Dungeon.

And then stuff like environment books (Wilderness Survival Guide, Frostburn, etc) perhaps replacing the PC splats books. Some new classes are fine I do not need around 8+ a year.

So after 3 to 4 years one would have.

5 PC books (4 class ones and a PHB2/Players Guide/Class Compendium type book)

1 Psionics Book

18 Dungeons/Dragons (bi monthly)

6 Adventure Paths (or 3APs +3 books of shorter adventures)

2-3 Monster Manuals

2-4 Campaign settings ( FR+ updating TSR ones, Eberron, Points of Light)

Note it does look like a lot by the current D&D release schedule but it is a lot less than the heights of 3E and 4E as stuff is coming out at about 1/3rd or 1/4th the rate. Already shopping around to find OGL material and putting my money where my mouth is. Basically I want a slower release but still feel like I have an actively supported version of D&D with some options as what happens if you are not into Tiamat or Elemental Evil?

 

[Kobold Stew]

I see a lot of people complaining about the release rate, one way or another. The DMG came out less than three months ago, and Princes of the Apocalypse will be available this month. We've had a free pdf of Eberron materials, with more to come.

I'm actually pretty happy with what we're getting, and the pace at which it's coming to us.

 

[Jeff Carlsen]

I bet you could distill the Psionics handbook, and the class based complete books down to a single 300 page hardcover and have a better book that outsold the separate books combined over the long term.

 

[delericho]

As per usual WoTC over reacts IMHO much like how the design of 4E was an over reaction to the problems 3.5 had and how 3.5 was probably an overreaction to 3.0 or the GSL was an overreaction to the OGL.

I would be surprised if the current release schedule were any sort of a reaction to customer feedback. More likely it's a business decision made for business reasons.

(Specifically, I would speculate that supplements just don't sell enough to be worthwhile, and don't add any value-add in terms of IP that can be licensed. Adventures, and specifically Adventure Paths, do - but even these probably have a sweet-spot in terms of volume of releases. No point in producing paths faster than they can get the novels written, the MMO modules coded, or whatever.)

I also wouldn't be surprised if the decision has been taken that it's time for D&D to become like Monopoly, in that it moves to a more or less fixed set of rules that will stand the test of time, and that can be purchased as a complete set at a reasonable outlay. In which case we're unlikely to see any supplements to speak of (though we may see an "Eberron Edition" and a "Ravenloft Edition" and so on), and are unlikely to see 6e bringing many changes when it's released in 5 years.

I also more or less expect Dragon and Dungeon Magazines although that is a pipe dream these days. Still sad about their demise I 2007, I have them through to 2011 via DDI but it is not the same and they sucked anyway by comparison. Dungeon was always good for a 1-2 session adventure.

For me, that's the one big loss. Regular releases give the fans something to get their teeth into, to try out and to discuss, and generally keeps people engaged in the hobby. The magazines were a useful vehicle for doing that, even if a given supplement wasn't to taste. And it would be an ideal vehicle to present some of the setting-specific stuff that's missing, or to offer new adventures. Generally, it would be a good thing.

 

[Uchawi]

Throughout the playtest I was promoting content, and found it odd others wanted a slower release schedule, when the easy solution is curb your spending habits and choose what you like more carefully. I had no problems with the release schedule of any edition of D&D, except for 4E and 5E. The former had a problem with releasing quality adventures, and focused too much on crunch, where 5E is lacking in both. But I expect it is due to budget, and/or the hope that re-selling previous content (old adventures, etc.) will make up the difference. Since I have been playing the game for a while, the last thing I want to do it explore old content, like re-hashing previous adventures, or buying new ones that are a re-boot of a previous one.

 

[Shiroiken]

We've had 7 products released in 8 months. With PotA coming out this month, that will give us 8 in 9 months. Still not seeing a problem here. Of course, the products may not be what you want (personally, I find WotC adventures to be garbage), but that's life.

I too would like to see a return of Dragon, but maybe as a quarterly. A campaign book a year I don't think would be unreasonable either. Character Splatblooks can DIAF as far as I'm concerned.

 

[delericho]

We've had 7 products released in 8 months. With PotA coming out this month, that will give us 8 in 9 months. Still not seeing a problem here.

Perhaps the lack of announced product for the next 9 months?

 

[Iosue]

Perhaps the lack of announced product for the next 9 months?

Well we know that WotC plays their cards close to their chest. As of May 18th, 2014, there were no announcements for 5e's release at all. Princes of the Apocalypse, scheduled for an April release, wasn't announced until January 20th.

We know that WotC is planning two big stories a year, with an Adventure Path for each one. But that doesn't mean that's the only thing they'll release.

 

[BryonD]

Perhaps the lack of announced product for the next 9 months?

That. Plus the cancel/pulling of anticipated products. Plus the general lack of hype.

 

[delericho]

Plus the cancel/pulling of anticipated products.

Personally, I'd much rather have the announce things and thus, inevitably, have to cancel products occasionally, rather than the current model of radio silence until the book is basically done. It's kinda unfair to criticise them for lack of communication if they're also going to get criticism when they do communicate.